A real analysis of the stats shows the Kobe is not even close to Jordan. Kobe was 'the youngest' to reach a number of milestones, but that is only because he did not play college ball so let's not have any of those stats. But after reading
I submit:
Here are 10 reasons why Jordan was far better than Bryant will ever be:
10. a) Scoring- Jordan scored 3000 points in a season, Kobe hasn't done this. When Jordan did this, averaging 37 points compared to Bryant's career best 35 points, Jordan had two huge disadvantages. First, Jordan was playing in an era when hand checking was allowed. Defensive players were allowed to place their hands on a player on the perimeter, on average a player would put anywhere from 10-50 pounds of pressure on Jordan's body, making it near impossible to get off a quick jump shot. Without hand checking Jordan could have gotten off many more shots during that season. Second, Jordan managed 37 points a game while only shooting 66 three pointers the entire season, Bryant shot over 500 three pointers to average 35 points a game. Bryant relied on his jumper to get him his points while Jordan had to earn them the hard way, attacking the hoop.
b) High scoring games- Jordan's highest single game total was 69 versus a legitimate playoff team, compared to Bryant's 81 againstthe Raptors. Also Jordan once dropped 63 on the Celtics, a team with Bird, McHale and Parrish three hall of famers known for good defense, Bryant had a career playoff high of 50 against the Suns in 2006, a team that is famous for not playing defense.
9. Rebounding. Jordan was a far superior rebounder. Bryant has averaged over six rebounds a game 3 times in his career, and never managed to average more than 7 rebounds a game. Jordan on the other hand averaged more that six rebounds a game nine times in his career and had a season where he averaged 8 rebounds a game. Jordan was particularly good at getting boards at key times in the game and could dominate that area in spurts to win, Bryant has never been able to do this.
8. Steals- Jordan average more than 2.2 steals a game nine times in his career, Bryant only managed this once. Jordan filled the passing lanes for the entire game and was always a threat, Bryant seems to pick and choose when he plays that kind of defense.
7. Field Goal Percentage- Not once has Bryant averaged more than 50% from the field, Jordan made more than 50% of his shots 6 times in his career. Without shooting as many three pointers Jordan was far more efficient offensively.
6. Assists- Bryant is getting much better at setting up his team mates, but only once has Bryant averaged 6 assists a game. Jordan averaged more than 6 assists three times, including a season where he averaged 8 assists a game, there are many teams in the NBA that don't have a point guard that can give 8 assists, Jordan managed to average that many assists and score 32 points a game at the same time.
5. Blocks- Jordan averaged more than a block a game 4 times in his career, Bryant managed this only once. Since both guys are near identical in their height and weight it is obvious that Jordan was more dedicated to playing defense by getting his hands up in the face of shooters, thus he had far more blocks.
4. Turnovers- In his entire career Jordan averaged more than 3 turnovers 5 times, and this was in the first 6 years of his career, so Jordan got better at protecting the ball as he got older. Bryant has averaged more than 3 turnovers 7 times, and he is inconsistent about it, his worst season was in 04-05 where he averaged more than 4 turnovers a game, something Jordan never did.
3. Off court drama- Although Jordan has had a rather messy divorce recently, during his playing career he never created off court drama the way Bryant has. Bryant had an affair with a woman in Denver in a very public manner that was an embarrassment to the Lakers and Bryant also had his preseason tirade this year asking for a trade then staying. Both these distractions were created by Bryant. The biggest off court drama that Jordan ever had was the death of his father, something he had no control over. Luckily for the Lakers it has all worked out, but Bryant's drama could have been avoided and needless stress is tough on a locker room.
2. Dunking and the shoes- Michael Jordan and Nike revolutionized the way we look at athletic shoes and this was in large part to Jordan's artistic performance in the dunk contest. Both Bryant and Jordan were dunk contest champions but Bryant's performance was far from memorable. Posters of Jordan's dunk contest are still sold in poster stores today, you would be hard pressed to find a poster of Bryant's dunks. Jordan created a culture and some would even say a cult of sorts. Bryant has not had nearly the kind of image success Jordan had.
1. Hardware- Bryant has played 12 seasons, he has one MVP award, 3 championships. After 13 seasons Jordan had 6 championships, 6 NBA Finals MVP awards, 5
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